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‘Thunderstorm Asthma’ Kills 8 in Australia

Author Name:

Michelle Innis

Publication Date:

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

On November 21st, the emergency rooms in the city of Melbourne, Australia were flooded with thousands of people suffering from attacks of "thunderstorm asthma." With eight confirmed casualties, the incident caused widespread panic. In an attempt to explain the phenomena, it was discovered that the trigger for this "thunderstorm asthma" was caused when the strong winds and rain of a passing thunderstorm carrying pollen broke this pollen into tiny fragments, which were then inhaled by thousands and caused the asthma attacks.

The Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center (P30 ES006694) is a Unit of the Center for Toxicology, at the College of Pharmacy, funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. We also acknowledge the people – past, present, and future – of the Tohono O'odham Nation, on whose traditional lands we study and work.